Gravimetric Study For Detecting Subsurface Density Structures Beneath Volcanoes

We created an accurate model of subsurface density structure beneath a volcano, which is crucial for observing time dependent processes such as magma flow and transport. Accuracy in this research has been restricted by the underdetermined and non-unique nature of surface gravity measurements. In an effort to increase the accuracy of surface gravity measurements, we performed a redundant absolute gravity survey to improve the calibration our gravimeter. We then performed corrections on gravity data taken at station locations in our target region, Redondo Mountain. In these corrections we utilized Tsoft Earth Tide data, regional LIDAR data, and the NAD83 reference ellipsoid to improve precision. We created a discretization of the target region from the LIDAR data. After we use the corrected gravity measurements to optimize the discretization this research will be used to calculate the gravity effect, represent the varying density estimations of the mountain, and track time dependent changes such as magma motion.